It’s all about cranberries

It’s not even the jamming season, and I’ve managed three weeks in a row of creativity, with at least one jackpot, a jam/chutney/marmalade combo that was knock-your-socks off good.

Inspired, I think, by two weeks in a row of a quince-cranberry creation, and by the the latest of my internet blog browsing, I settled for a cranberry, orange, apricot concoction that reads like a preserve and tastes more like a chutney. I tweaked the recipe a little to replace most of the honey with easier to handle sugar and threw in a splash of balsamic vinegar to add a kick. It was an almost-chutney without onions and without much vinegar. Did I mention that it was good?

Combine orange juice, cranberries and chopped orange and simmer until the cranberries begin to burst.

Add the apple, apricots, honey, sugar and cardamom and cook for approximately 20 minutes, until the orange rinds are tender and the chutney has thickened. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar, for the sheer hell of it.

Bottle in sterilized jars.

Waterbath for 10 minutes if you feel so inclined.

Rating: 5 (out of 5)

Even fresh out of the jar, this was a relish to die for. I served it with barely grilled organic salmon, dusted with curry powder and salt and pepper, along with barely steamed green beans, braised with butter and garlic, and the lemony sweet potato salad/side dish from a while back. There were four of us, and we just about polished off the jar as well as hoovering up all the salmon, most of the beans and almost all the sweet potatoes.

I don’t think I’m going to be giving many of these away.

Oh, and I also made a few more jars of that pink grapefruit marmalade from a couple of weeks back. It’s just so pretty, a coral red with sliced up bits of pinker peel.

Rating to come.

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OMG, all my favourite ingredients – oranges, cardamom, balsamic vinegar.Tempted to start cooking right now! (It’s pretty late) I’ve got to try it at a more sensible time after restocking on cranberries 🙂